Furniture sheath



March 15, 1966 w. o. PETERSEN FURNITURE SHEATH Filed Jan. 5. 1965 INVENTOR Warren 0, Petersen United States Patent 3,240,460 FURNITURE SHEATH Warren D. Petersen, Redondo Beach, Calif., assignor t0 Schiumherger, Limited, Houston, Tex., a Netherlands Antilles corporation Filed Jan. 3, 1963, Ser. No. 249,283 4 Claims. (Cl. 248-1885) This invention relates to a covering for a member of a piece of furniture and has for an object the provision of a plastic sheath fitted over a portion of the exterior of the furniture member.

In the manufacture of wood furniture such as tables or chairs, portions of the legs or arms of the furniture may be intricately shaped by means of turning, carving, and grooving in order to provide a pleasing effect and to resemble the shapes of different period furniture. For example, in the manufacture of table legs, it has been desirable to shape the leg by turning it on a lathe thereby to develop differing curved surfaces particularly at the top of the leg. These curved surfaces were then carved and grooved to form desired designs by skilled craftsmen. If the shapes were complicated, ornate, or if a high quality product were desired, a high degree of skill and care were required which resulted in high manufacturing costs. While attempts have been made to automate some of the above steps and to replace the skilled craftsmen with machines, a great deal of highly skilled labor could not be replaced.

The foregoing problem has been of even greater importance in the manufacture of furniture formed of hollow metal tubing. While expensive machines have been developed to shape, curve and taper the tubing into pleasing shapes, it has not been feasible, as a result of prohibitive manufacturing costs, to duplicate the intricate carving and grooving of Wood. As a result, metal furniture has been limited to applications where such intricate shapes were not required.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is a furniture arm or leg having some portion of its exterior surface intricately shaped, but which requires little skilled labor in its manufacture.

Another object of the present invention is a furniture arm or leg having a portion of its surface covered by a relatively inexpensive plastic sheath which exterior is molded so that it resembles an intricately shaped wood piece.

In accordance with the present invention there is provided a molded plastic hollow sheath which is force fitted over a portion of the arm or leg of a piece of furniture with the sheath of length in the longitudinal direction substantially less than that of the leg or arm it is covering. In carrying out the invention in one form thereof, the sheath is made of a resilient plastic material and is force fitted over the top of a furniture leg so that it covers a part of the upper portion of the leg. The ends of the sheath define two openings having normal relaxed peripheries of length less than the respectively embraced outer peripheries of the leg. In this manner, the ends of the sheath snugly engage the leg and thus the leg unit appears to have been turned from wood with its upper portion hand carved and grooved.

Further, in accordance with the invention, the sheath is molded of polyethylene by means of blow molding. In this process the mold may be constructed to provide the desired intricate shape and the resultant product will resemble a turned, carved, and grooved wood piece. The polyethylene is first extruded and the resultant extrusion placed in the mold. Air is introduced into the extrusion to cause its inflation with the polyethylene being forced against the inner wall of the mold and thus efiecting its shape.

For a more detailed disclosure of the invention and for other objects and advantages thereof, reference is to be had to the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings:

FIG. 1 is perspective view of a hollow metal table leg having a portion of its exterior covered by a sheath embodying the present invention;

FIG. 2 is the table leg and sheath of FIG. 1 with a section cut-away;

FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of a Wood table leg having a portion of its exterior covered by a sheath embodying the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a perspective View of a metal chair leg having a portion of its exterior covered by a sheath embodying the present invention; and,

FIGS. 5 and 6 are perspective views of a modified form of the invention including a support for a chair arm having a portion of its exterior covered by a sheath.

Referring now to FIGS. 1 and 2, there is illustrated a table 11 having a plurality of tapered members or legs 10 which have been formed in the shape of truncated cones. Each of the legs 10 has been constructed of steel tubing which has been tapered by shaping machines well known in the art. At the top of leg 10, there is welded a plate 13 having openings for receiving fastening devices for securing the leg to the underside of the table 14. At the smaller end of the leg 10 there is fitted a self leveling foot 11 having a flat portion 11a which is adapted to lie flush with any floor and at whatever angle the leg 16 is set off from the table.

In accordance with the present invention, a hollow plastic sheath 12, open at both ends, is force fitted over the top of the leg 10 so that a portion of the uppermost part of the leg 10 is exposed. The sheath 12 is formed of an inexpensive resilient material with the periphery of the upper end opening 12a having a normal relaxed periphery slightly less than the outer periphery of the portion of the leg 10 it embraces. In similar manner, the periphery of the lower end opening 12b has a normal relaxed periphery slightly less than the outer periphery of the portion of the leg 10 that it embraces. Thus, the upper and lower ends of the sheath 12 snugly engage leg 10 and the sheath and leg appear as a single unit formed from a single piece of material. The foregoing illusion is enhanced when the leg 10 is painted a color identical to the color of the sheath 12. In this manner, both the leg and sheath appear to the eye to be wood which has been turned, intricately shaped and carved and then painted. As illustrated in FIG. 3, the leg 10a may indeed be constructed of wood and painted in similar manner as the metal leg 10 of FIGS. 1 and 2. In this case as well, it will appear that the entire leg was formed from one piece of wood.

The plastic sheath is preferably molded of linear polyethylene which is an expansible, resilient and inexpensive material. Accordingly, the sheath 12 will maintain its position on the leg 10 and will not be subject to the nicks and scratches of a wood piece. If desired, the grooves of the sheath may be painted for further decorative effect in manner similar to a wood piece as illustrated in FIG. 6.

The sheath 12 is preferably molded by the blow molding process which is well known in the art and as described, for example, in an article in the Modern Plastics Encyclopedia, page 784, entitled, Blow Molding, by L. C. Morehouse, Jr., and H. M. Carleton. In this process, a screw type extruder is first utilized to produce a cylinder of polyethylene known as a parison. The parison is heated, placed in the mold, and air is introduced into the parison by means of a blow stick or through the use of a hypodermic needle.

In this manner, the parison is forced against the inner wall of the mold and the air pressure is maintained for a sulficient amount of time to allow the polyethylene to cool. As a result, the exterior shape of the plastic takes on the shape of the inner Wall of the mold. After cooling, the top and bottom of the plastic are removed to produce a sheath having an open top and an open bottom and a hollow interior. By the use of the blow molding process, polyethylene sheaths may be produced in desired shapes at relatively inexpensive cost.

It is to be understood that the inner wall of the mold may be formed in any shape to produce a sheath having the desired exterior shape which may, for example, resemble a selected period furniture. In addition, the polyethylene material before extrusion, may be colored by means of dyes so that the resultant sheath is of color which exactly matches the color that the table leg has been painted. It is in this manner that the sheath and the table leg appear as a single unit.

While the sheath 12 has been illustrated as force fitted over the top of the leg 10, another desirable effect may be achieved by the use of a sheath fitted adjacent the bottom of the leg. Accordingly, the sheath is molded to snugly engage the smaller cross-section bottom part of the leg. It will also be understood that the sheath may extend over a substantial portion of the leg when such an elongated intricate exterior shape is desired.

From the above, it will be seen that in accordance wtth the invention, the plastic sheath has an irregular exterior shape which projects from the leg and which shape is unlike that of the leg. In addition, difiering parts of the exterior of the sheath have differing cross-sectional areas to provide longitudinal gradations of shape. It is also to be noted that the largest cross-sectional area of the sheath is substantially greater than the cross-sectional area of that portion of the leg that it is covering.

In FIG. 4, the leg 10b is utilized as a chair leg with the sheath 12c positioned adjacent the top of the leg 10b. The leg 10!) may be attached to the chair 15 by a fastening plate (not shown) Welded to the top of the leg in the manner illustrated in FIG. 2.

Now that the principles of the invention have been explained, it will be understood that many modifications may be made. For example, in FIG. 5 a sheath 21 may be force fitted over a portion of the support for an arm of a chair 23 and in this manner the support 20 and sheath 21. appear as a single unit formed from a single piece of wood.

What is claimed is:

1. An article of manufacture comprising,

an elongated rounded furniture member,

and a generally tubular sheath of resilient material having its ends force fitted over a portion of said member,

said sheath having its intermediate portion enlarged and formed in an intricate shape with the ends of said sheath defining two openings,

said openings each having a normal relaxed periphery of length less than the respectively embraced outer peripheries of said member whereby said ends of said sheath snugly engage said member.

2. A furniture piece comprising an elongated furniture member having at least a portion thereof with a rounded periphery, and a thin-Walled generally tubular molding encircling said portion of said furniture member, said molding having its opposite ends snugly engaging the periphery of said portion and being enlarged and shaped intermediate said ends to provide a decorative sheath along said furniture member blending therewith.

3. A furniture piece comprising an elongated furniture member having at least a portion thereof with a rounded periphery, and a thin-walled generally tubular blow molding composed of a resilient plastic material encircling said portion of said furniture member, said molding having its opposite ends force fitted about said portion and being enlarged and shaped intermediate said ends to provide a decorative sheath along said furniture member blending therewith.

4. In a furniture piece having downwardly tapered legs, each leg having a portion with a circular periphery adjacent its upper end, a unitary thin-walled generally tubular blow molding composed of resilient plastic material enlarged and grooved intermediateits ends to provide a decorative sheath for such leg, said ends defining spaced circular openings sized snugly to engage the periphery of said leg portion.

References (Zited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,213,506 9/1940 Thoresen 27-10 2,984,036 5/1961 Adler 161-12 FOREIGN PATENTS 725,720 3/ 1955 Great Britain.

CLAUDE A. LE ROY, Primary Examiner.

FRANK L. ABBOTT, Examiner.

I. F. FOSS, Assistant Examiner. 

1. AN ARTICLE OF MANUFACTURE COMPRISING, AN ELONGATED ROUNDED FURNITURE MEMBER, AND A GENERALLY TUBULAR SHEATH OF RESILIENT MATERIAL HAVING ITS ENDS FORCE FITTED OVER A PORTION OF SAID MEMBER, SAID SHEATH HAVING ITS INTERMEDIATE PORTION ENLARGED AND FORMED IN AN INTRICATE SHAPE WITH THE ENDS OF SAID SHEATH DEFINING TWO OPENINGS, SAID OPENINGS EACH HAVING A NORMAL RELAXED PERIPHERY OF LENGTH LESS THAN THE RESPECTIVELY EMBRACED OUTER PERIPHERIES OF SAID MEMBER WHEREBY SAID ENDS OF SAID SHEATH SNUGLY ENGAGE SAID MEMBER. 